Return to the Shadows (11 page)

“I know you are, sweetie. Look at it this
way. The magic place is just like anywhere else. There are good
people and bad people.”

“And we’re gonna find the good people?”

“Yes.” I nodded and smiled for the first time
that night, truly starting to believe that.

***

The remainder of our travel was smooth and
blessedly uneventful. It was also remarkably fast. I alternated
between carrying Ashley and letting her walk for the first five
miles of the trip. The remaining ten miles was another story
altogether. I chose to carry her piggy-back style since the ground
was so hard and uneven, with roots jutting here and there. I didn’t
feel that it was a good idea to let her try and navigate the rough
terrain; she didn’t seem to mind the decision and merely clung
quietly to my shoulders till we reached the cave. It loomed black
and imposing in the distance and I forced myself to breathe
normally as we came upon it.

I took the entrance that lay to the right,
stopping to explain that the rest of the journey would be through
the cave. That no matter what happened, we had to keep going. It
was every bit as dismal and dank as I remembered it. But if nothing
else, the trek through the cave went twice as fast as it had the
first time around, and thank God for that. The thick spider webs
that I had not been able to get out of my head for a year and a
half still hung from the ceilings like a bad Halloween prop. Ashley
paused and gasped upon seeing them, then promptly hid behind my
legs. She had flatly refused to take another step, and it had taken
a good five minutes for me to convince her that there were no giant
spiders lurking about. I finally reminded her that should we happen
to encounter any spiders, I still had my gun.

“So if we see a big spider, you can shoot
it?” Her voice was tiny yet echoing in the cavernous space.

“That’s right.” I nodded, and we moved deeper
into the cave. We reached the fork in the cave in under an hour,
crouching down to fit through the small doorway that led to the
long tunnel. It was the last leg of our journey, and the one most
likely to cause us the greatest amount of discomfort. The passage
was so low and narrow that the only way to pass through it was to
crawl the two miles on all fours. I took the short length of nylon
rope I had stowed in our pack and used it to fashion a tether that
went from Ashley’s wrist to my ankle. She still had plenty of room
to crawl freely behind me, yet would still be securely attached to
me at all times.

Two hours later, we crawled through the
opening and into the mountainous chamber that stood at the end of
the tunnel. The doorway was directly in front of us, a simple hole
surrounded by etchings. I felt the chill creep across my skin as I
deftly steered Ashley around the crimson stain on the floor and
approached the back wall of the cave. I closed my eyes and ran my
fingers over the warning that was etched into the stone.

Long, harsh-looking lines had been carved
into the rock in a circle formation. The carvings were so deep it
looked as though the rock had been viciously slashed over and over
again. A chill crept across my skin, refusing to be held at bay.
There was a deep gash in the smooth center of the carving. Above
that was a tiny picture. Someone had carved what looked to be a
picture of a rudimentary, unadorned coffin.

There was a single long straight line above
the coffin and a sun several inches above that. A representation of
the ground, I assumed. A spiral cut through the line and into the
coffin.

With a final glace around the rest of the
cave, I took a deep breath and pulled the key from my bag.

Ashley stood close by, her eyes widening as
she took in our less than homey surroundings. “Mom, what are all
those lines and drawings all over the walls?”

“I don’t know,” I responded semi-truthfully.
“I never did figure that out. Ancient writings of some sort, to be
sure. As for what it says, I wish I knew. Okay, Ashley, I’m going
to put this key in that lock and it’s going to take us to the
magical land.”

I picked her up and settled her securely on
my hip, instructing her to hold on tight. In one hand was the key;
in the other, the gun was loaded and at the ready.

“Mama, are you scared?” Her face was pressed
tight against my throat.

“No, of course not,” I immediately lied.
There was no way I could have ever admitted to her that we were
about to be transported and dumped into an unprotected area of
Terlain. No way to tell her there might be guards waiting for us in
that forest. Though, honestly, enough time had passed, I didn’t
think they would be waiting for us. Still, I tightened my grip on
the gun, took a deep breath, pressed the key into the stone, and
turned.

The darkness engulfed us.

Chapter Six

Broken

We were on the forest floor. Much like the
first time I had crossed the portal, I hadn’t a clue as to how much
time had elapsed. And just like the time before, there was no way
to know what waited to greet us in the woods. It was a
disconcerting feeling to say the least.

“Ashley?” I whispered, attempting to gently
rouse the child. She lay next to me on a blanket of pine needles,
her tiny hand still clutching mine. Thick, dark lashes were
motionless against her baby soft cheek.

“Ashley, you have to wake up now,” I
continued to whisper, unwilling to disturb the relative silence of
the forest that surrounded us. There was no breeze here. The tall
trees with their golden leaves effectively blocked out both light
and wind.

“Mama?”

“Yes, I’m here. Are you feeling okay?”

“I feel strange.”

“Strange how?” I asked, instantly
alarmed.

“I just feel funny.”

“Do you feel sick? Are you in pain?”

“Maybe a little sick.” She clutched her
midsection.

“Do you feel sick like you’re about to throw
up, or sick like you’ve been riding an elevator?” I questioned.

“Elevator,” she said, then nodded. “A giant
elevator.”

She was disoriented, I realized with some
small degree of relief. The effects of crossing the portal were
mostly the same for me both times. Still, I had been stressing over
what the possible effects would be for Ashley. It was a relief to
know she was largely unaffected.

“Do you think you can walk a little bit?”

“Yes.”

“Good girl.” I smiled and set about
thoroughly surveying our surroundings. There was no one in sight. I
was surprised and elated all at once. Perhaps Kahn’s guards had
tired of guarding these forests.

Even better, maybe Kahn had been defeated and
had taken his evil army with him. I doubted that very much, but it
was still a comforting thought.

I raised the gun from my pack, motioning for
Ashley to stay close to my side as we made our way through the
woods. The cold steel served as a harsh reminder of the very real
danger we could face. I still hated having to bring a gun on our
journey. Guns didn’t exist in Terlain. Swords, knives, bow and
arrow, and spears were the preferred weapons of choice for the
people here. One false move and my weapon could fall into the wrong
hands. I held in my hand the potential to change the entire course
of history in Terlain.

I shuddered to think of any one of Kahn’s
guards in possession of a firearm; the citizens of Terlain wouldn’t
stand a chance. Kahn’s men were brutal enough without any outside
help.

“Are there bad men here?” Ashley’s voice was
barely audible.

“I don’t know, baby,” I answered in
truth.

She promptly hid behind my denim-clad legs,
apparently not finding my answer to be even the least bit
reassuring. I didn’t blame her; the truth was all too often a harsh
reality, but I considered it a necessary evil. Besides, I
rationalized, recalling my brother’s words, it was better for
Ashley to learn how to deal with problems, and telling her that
danger didn’t exist wouldn’t accomplish anything. I had to admit
that Mike was right on that point. She would only end up
disappointed and, worse, unprepared when life’s inevitable mishaps
fell upon her. Although, really, our situation was beyond unusual.
Most people did not have to face and defend against repeated
attempts on their life. Normal people didn’t, as a general rule,
find themselves in alternate...what? Dimensions? Realms?

Twelve months later and I still didn’t quite
know what to call Terlain. The “magic place” did have a nice ring
to it, I decided, navigating through the gold-trimmed forest with
ease now. I wondered if we would see Faith’s dog Wilson again. So
far he hadn’t made himself known to Ashley and myself. He must have
been in the yard, maybe even in the house, I realized. I hoped that
he was still alive. Even though a year had passed, Wilson hadn’t
looked to be all that old, so chances were good that he was still
enjoying good health. The canine would forever hold a special place
in my heart—he was the first friend I’d made in this strange new
land.

The trees were thinner here; soon we would
hit the clearing, and Faith’s ranch-style house would be due north
at the far edge. The town of Lerna would be just beyond the ridge
behind the house. While it would probably never be called a
bustling metropolitan hub, Lerna was not exactly tiny either. It
was one of those family friendly places that had managed to find a
happy medium between overcrowded and middle-of-nowhere. If Faith
and her husband couldn’t be located at the house, for whatever
reason, Ashley and I would be able to find food and lodging for the
night in town. From there, we would move on, taking the safe-zone
avenues to Grandview where, with any luck, we would find Bob and
Marta...and Mark. We would be safe with them, I knew, shoving all
thoughts of Mark aside for the moment. Screw John Hanlen and his
band of merry, crooked cops, because for all intents and purposes,
Ashley and I had just dropped off the face of the Earth.

It was harder not to worry about Mike; maybe
we had managed to evade danger back home, but my brother had
remained in the thick of it. He had the dual task of not only
sorting through the mess, but cleaning it up. I prayed that he
would get through the experience in one piece. Logically, I knew
enough about survival and teamwork to say my quick but heartfelt
prayer and mentally move on, pushing all thoughts of the family who
waited back home—and the trials they faced—from my mind. Worrying
wouldn’t do them one bit of good, I knew from experience, and in
fact, it would distract me at a time when I desperately needed to
keep my wits about me. So I had to trust Mike to take care of
himself and do the same for Ashley and myself.

A break in the trees up ahead signaled the
end of the forest and I exhaled silently, remembering that we were,
quite literally, not out of the woods yet. A large tree that looked
to be a maple on steroids provided adequate cover, and I tucked
Ashley between the base of the tree and my own body, quietly
instructing her to stay low and stay silent while I carefully
perused our surroundings. Nothing could be heard throughout the
forest. No leaves crunching underfoot, no swish of blades hacking
through foliage, nothing. It looked as though we were alone. The
guards had evidently decided to move on. Not surprising, I
reasoned. After all, it had been a year. They probably figured we
wouldn’t be bold—or foolhardy—enough to return to Terlain, but if
Kahn found out we were here… I squelched the terrifying thought
before it could be fully formed. Kahn wasn’t going to find out. He
would never know we had dared return to Terlain, I vowed, pressing
closer to Ashley and easing out of the forest, away from the cover
of the towering, gilded vegetation, taking the first step into the
open meadow.

“Ashley,” I whispered. “Do you see the house
on the hill? The blue house with the yellow flowers lining the
walkway?”

“Yes.”

“That’s where we’re going, but we have to be
quick about it. When I say, we run for it and we don’t stop until
we’re at the front door.”

“No, please, I don’t want to go back to that
house again.”

“It’s perfectly fine, I promise—” I halted in
mid-sentence, mid-step as the impact of her tearful whisper hit
home. “What do you mean ‘again’? You’ve been to that house
before?”

“The bad men took me here, to the man and the
mean lady…the ones who were supposed to take care of me. I slept
downstairs a lot. I didn’t like it there. It was dark.” Her lip
quivered.

Downstairs. My blood began to boil as I
regarded Faith’s single-story home through narrowed eyes.

Unless homes were built drastically different
in Terlain, I could only assume that “downstairs” was synonymous
with “basement,” or even “crawlspace” or “cellar.” No matter what
one chose to call it, it was in no way a suitable place for any
sane person with a shred of humanity within them to put a
child.

Faith…I thought, glaring at the deceptively
tranquil homestead across the meadow. I had rescued my daughter
from a woman I had confided in, trusted, and considered a friend.
No wonder Kahn had found it so pitifully easy to track my
whereabouts last year. He’d had inside information, I now realized
bitterly.

Anger burned bright and hot within me, and I
wondered briefly what price had made it worthwhile for the blonde
devil to betray a confidant, and worse, an innocent child?

“Mama, I don’t want to go to that house.
Please don’t leave me with them.”

“Leave you?” I shook away my rage and knelt
down to take hold of her thin, trembling shoulders. “I am never
going to leave you. Ever. I didn’t know Faith and her husband were
the ones helping the bad men, the ones who took you from the
orphanage. But now I do know and you’ll never have to see those
people ever again. Come on, let’s get away from here, Ash. I know
another way to the city. Back into the forest we go.”